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Not only does it give the star player — seeking the biggest contract extension he can finagle — an opportunity to shine, but it disrupts the depth chart in some interesting ways.

“We’ll give him some time and some opportunity to grow into that position through camp,” said Keefe. “It gives us a chance to see what it looks like: how it affects Willie’s game, but also how it affects our team and the flow of our team.

“I think it just increases the depth ... but I’m well aware of who the good players are, who needs to be on the ice — whether it’s Auston (Matthews) or or David Kämpf. We’ve got a lot of options and a lot of guys who can give us good minutes.”

The 27-year-old Nylander was drafted as a centre and played there for Keefe with the AHL Marlies, and has occasionally in the NHL.

“Willie can do whatever he puts his mind to, he’s that good,” said Keefe. “He’s that powerful, he’s that strong. I know he wants to accomplish great things. He wants to be great.”

On a team without many job openings, the Nylander experiment has created a great deal of intrigue.

One option will be to move Tavares on left wing. The captain did so willingly toward the end of last season, after Ryan O’Reilly arrived from St. Louis at the trade deadline. Tavares is 33 and not getting any faster. The move would take the centre’s burden off an aging player and give it to a younger, faster, more agile one.

This would be a welcome development for Kämpf and Pontus Holmberg. Kämpf could reclaim his third-line role, while Holmberg could reclaim the roster spot he lost when O’Reilly was added. Holmberg finished last season with the Marlies.

But Keefe sounded like he preferred another idea: eschew the top-six/bottom-six designations that teams have been married to. The Leafs could go with three scoring lines led by Matthews, Tavares and Nylander, but this would only work if the young wingers competing for jobs finally break through.

Free-agents Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi fit the top-nine bill, and Bertuzzi will probably play with Matthews and Mitch Marner. But can Matthew Knies follow up on a terrific NHL debut at the end of last season? Can Nick Robertson (injured every time he has knocked on the door for regular NHL work) stay healthy?

“I want to see if they’re ready to push for a job,” general manager Brad Treliving. “Let’s be honest, there’s not a lot of help wanted signs sitting on the roster right now. There’s one or two spots depending on how things go.”

If Robertson and Knies can fulfil their promise, the Leafs could create all kinds of offensive mismatches over three lines. But both of them, and Holmberg, could end up with the Marlies regardless of how well they play in the pre-season. All three can be sent down without waivers, and the team remains almost $3 million over the $83.5-million (U.S.) salary cap despite the anticipated absences of Murray and Muzzin.

It was determined over the summer that Murray would require surgery. The team didn’t disclose the reason, only that surgery is forthcoming, which created intrigue in net. The starting job is Ilya Samsonov’s, but the backup’s role will be fight between rookie Joseph Woll and veteran Martin Jones.

“At the end of the day, it’s the NHL,” said Treliving. “There’s competition at every position. I think we’ve created that in net with Martin. Sammy is coming off a heck of a year, has really established himself. Joe is ready to grab some time. And then you’ve got Martin who’s ... had a lot of success in the league. We’ll let it play out over camp, but as we sit here today, I feel good about it.”

Things are a bit more clear on the blue line — although there’s room for an upset there, too. The offensively gifted Conor Timmins and physical Simon Benoit will push for a job, with 39-year-old Mark Giordano perhaps the most vulnerable of the returning crew.

But the early focus will be on Nylander, both because of his new position and where things stand with talks to extend the contract that expires after this coming season. Nylander was not made available Wednesday, but will likely answer questions Thursday.

“We want to get Willie signed,” said Treliving. “Willie’s a really good player. We want to keep our good players. Willie’s expressed to me that he wants to be here. That’s usually a good starting point, and so we’ll try to get it done. The lines of communication will stay open.”